Hemp-brake



(No Model.)

J. J. HAWKINS.

HEMI BRAKE..

No. 427,764. Patented May 13,1890.

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UNITED' STATES PATENT OFFICE. t

JOHN J. HAVKINS, OF NEWARK, ASSIGNOR TO ALBERT ANGELI., OF EAST ORANGE, NEV JERSEY.

H E M P B RA K E SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,764, dated May 13, 1890*.

Application filed January 30, 1890. Serial No. 338,609. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. HAwKINs, a citizen of the United Stat-es, residing at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hemp- Brakes, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the saine.

This invention consists partly in the combination, with a rotary beater, of a breakingbar arranged in close proximity to the same and a series of :flexible pressing-blades adjacent to the latter near the periphery of the beater, and partly in the combination therewith of afeeding device for delivering the cleaned fibers from the machine arranged upon the opposite side of the beater from the said breakin g-bar, and a secondary breakingbar adjacent thereto and in clse proximity to the beater.

In the annexed drawings, Figure lis a vertical longitudinal section et' a machine embodying myinvention; and Fig, 2 is a plan of the saine with the guard, the breaking-bars, and the pressing-blades removed to expose the parts below.

a is the frame; b, the beater having transverse slats b secured at intervals upon the rims of two spiders on the main or beater shaft c.

d and d are two guides curved inwardly toward each other and together forming a tapering throat, into which the stalks s are fed toward the beater. g

c is the breaking-bar, shown herein formed integral with the inner end of the guide d, in close proximity to the path of the slats b of the beater.

e', e?, and eg are a series of supporting-bars held by the 'frame of the machine near the periphery of the beater, to which and the breaking-bar e are secured a series of elastic blades or flaps f, f', f2, and f3, inclined to the periphery of the beater. These blades are formed of leather, rubber, or other suitable material, and are adjusted to project near enough to the path of the slats b to press the broken hemp-stalks which are fedin over the beater against its slats that they may be rubbed and scraped by such rapidly-moving slats and thereby effectively cleaned.

g g and 7L hare pairs of rolls mounted upon the frame upon the opposite side of the beater from the breaking-bar e, each pair supporting an apron g and h', respectively, which aprons, operating in conjunction with each other,for1n a feeding device for delivering the cleaned hemp iibers from the machine. The object of providing such aprons instead of simple feeding-rolls is to prevent the wrapping of the iibers around the feeding mechanism as they are fed out of the machine.

l is a secondary breaking-bar arranged below the point of exit of the cleaned bers from the machine and in close proximity to the beater.

fis a guard applied to the top ofthe frame a to prevent the particles of refuse matter stripped from the hemp-stalks from being scattered around t-he room in which the machine is located.

The machine is driven by means of a belt applied to fast and loose pulleys P and P upon the beater-shaft c, which latter drives also the rolls 71, 7L by means of the pulleys a n and the belt o. The adjacent rolls g and h are connected by means of pulleys 7c upon their respective shafts and a belt Z" applied thereto.

To operate the machine, a bundle of hempstalks is fed between the guides d and d toward the beater, and on being struck by the rapidly-moving slats b of the beater b are bent around the breaking-bar e, thereby shattering the stalks and loosening the bark and wood from the iiber. As the stalks are gradually fed into the machine, their forward ends are drawn over thc beater by friction therewith, and in their partially disintegrated state are pressed against the rapidly-moving slats o by the elastic bla-des f, j" f2, and f3, to rub and scrape them entirely clean. Then the stalks have been fed far enough, their forward ends are grasped by the feeding device, which continues to draw the cleaned portions of the fibers forward at a speed slow enough to permit the thorough cleaning of the succeeding portions. On the release of the butt-ends of the stalks by the operator after the greater portions of them are cleaned, they are carried around rapidly by the beater past the breaking-bar Z; but, the delivery of IOO the portions already cleaned continuing, they are again slowly drawn past the breaking-bar l, and are by means of the slats b 'thoroughly broken and cleaned between suoli members of the mechanism.

I-Ieretofore I have found in machines employing a beater rotating at a high Velocity that a simple drag-apron like that shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 325,573, tiled September 30, 1889, produced too much friction and too great a pull upon the bar to which it was fastened to operate satisfactorily, thereby causing the rupture of the -iibers themselves bythe intense pressure upon them against the rapidly-moving slats of the beater. My present invention is designed to obviate this difficulty without reducing the speed of the beater, and consequently its efficiency, and its essential feature is therefore the series of flaps arranged at intervals around the beater, in combination with the breaker-bar e and the beater.

Itis evident that the feeding device and the breaking-bar Z on the opposite side of the beater from the essential elements of the machine might be omitted Without rendering the machine inoperative, as the cleaned ends of the stalks could be Withdrawn by the operator after the forward ends had been subjected to the cleaning operation and the other ends then introduced to clean the remaining portions.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim herein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, With a rotary beater, of a breaking-bar arranged in close proximity to the same, and a series of flexible pressing`blades adjacent to the latter near the pe riphery of the beater, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The combination, Witha rotary beater, a breaking-bar at one side of the same and in close proximity thereto, and a series of iiexible pressing-blades adjacent to the latter near the periphery of the beater, of an auxiliary breaking-bar at the opposite side of the beater, and a feeding device adjacent to such auxiliary breaking-bar to deliver the cleaned fiber from the machine, the whole arranged and operated substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN J. I-IAVVKINS.

Witnesses:

HENRY OBNEE, HENRY J. MILLER. 

